The Philippines has voted - now the game of thrones begins again

As the noise and colour of a two-month election campaign subsides, a game of thrones between the two most powerful families in the Philippines resumes. President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, and his Vice-President, Sara Duterte, are embroiled in a bitter feud, and a battle for power.  As allies they won a landslide victory in the last presidential election in 2022.

But as their relationship has fractured - he accusing her of threatening to assassinate him, she accusing him of incompetence and saying she dreamed of decapitating him - this mid-term election has become a critical barometer of the strength of these two political dynasties.

And the results were not great news for the Marcos camp. Typically incumbent presidents in the Philippines get most of their picks for the senate elected in the mid-term election. The power of presidential patronage is a significant advantage, at least it has been in the past. But not this time.

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